I quoted the whole verse. You can read the entire book of James and it will not change th fact that we are justified by works and not by faith alone.
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"we are justified by works and not by faith alone."
1. You are on record. You had better have a good attorney when you face the LORD God when you depart this world. Of course, "the entire book of James" is for your obedience, let's see how honest you are:
"For whosoever shall keep
the whole law, and
yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all." James 2:10
Of course, you have not read Romans, have you? Shall we go over a few verses, or "the entire book" of Romans? How about Galatians. How about Ephesians? Eph. 2:8-9 perhaps? Ever paid for a "gift"? Oh, let's not discuss Romans 6:23, "the gift of God." Nah!
Tell everyone on this board that you keep "the whole law." The standard for righteousness is the Lord Jesus Christ, not other people=100% righteous(not 67%, 99%, 99.98786%.....) Go ahead. When you die, make sure you have not "offend(ed) in one point." You, and everyone of us, are dirty, rotten, no-good sinners, and GUILTY as charged. Our only hope is trusting in the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ, not our works. Being a former "Roman", I asked my mom recently, a Catholic, what the "good news", i.e., the gospel of Christ? I asked her what
the bad news is? I asked her why Christ died, if we can obtain eternal life through our own righteousness(works). She had no answer. Most Catholics do not-most "religions" are clueless.
2. Then you are not justified-that is what Muslims, Hindus, Catholics....="religion" argues-the opposite of Christianity. Nothing distinguishes what you argue from all other "religions."
Religion says "behave"- Christianity says "believe".
Religion says "try" - Christianity says "trust".
Religion says "do", - Christianity says "done".
Tell all of us on the board what differentiates your "we are justified by works" from other "religions"? That is what they say.
[FONT="]3. Before the LORD saved me 10 years ago I spent most of my time reading the TV Guide and couldn't care less about the Bible. However, the LORD was "longsuffering"(Romans 2:4, 1 Timothy 1:16) toward me and most gracious, and showed me the "gospel of God.......concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord..."(Romans 1:1-3). To think that the Lord Jesus Christ, God "in the flesh", who "...created all things..."(Revelation 4:11, John 1:3, Colossians 1:16, Hebrews 1:2), "made himself of no reputation , and took upon him the form of a servant...And...humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.."(Philippians 2:7,8) for my sake-that is the definition of sacrificial love! And he showed his love by dying in my place while I was a sinner and an enemy of God(Romans 5:8,10)! Amazing! [/FONT]
[FONT="]It is one thing to die for a loved one, but quite another thing to die for someone who is your enemy and had shown not the least bit of interest toward you. The Greeks had a word for
a gift that was given without any expectation of return-grace('charis'). However, in the Greco-Roman world, grace was always exercised toward a friend, not an enemy. Thus, to the "natural man", who "...receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him..."(1 Corinthians 2:14), and who embraces the "...wisdom of this world...", which is "...foolishness with God..."(1 Cor. 3:19), it is "natural", "logical", to "...love them which love you..."(Matthew5:46). The world does "...love his own..."(John 15:19) and therefore bestows gifts to its' own(Christmas time, for eg.) The Bible terms this "...the spirit of the world..."(1 Cor. 2:12) and contrasts this with "...the spirit which is of God.." The "spirit which is of God" is demonstrated by the cross. The "good news"(this is what 'gospel' means), the "...gospel of the grace of God..."(Acts 20:24) is that we have "...peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ..."(Romans 5:1), we have been "...reconciled....by Jesus Christ(2 Cor. 5:18-think on this-
only enemies need reconciliation) by his death(Romans 5:10), by the cross(Ephesians 2:16), by his blood(Romans 3:25, 5:9; Colossians 1:20; Exodus 12:13-notice here "...when I see the blood...", not behavior!), and by his identification with(2 Cor. 5:20,21) and substitution for(="for our"-1 Cor. 15:3,Romans 5:8, Galatians 1:4) sinners. And this "...gift of God..."(Romans 6:23), this "...free gift...unto justification of life"(Romans 5:18) in which we are "...justified freely by his grace..."(Romans3:24), is appropriated "...by faith..."(Romans 5:1).[/FONT]
[FONT="]The gospel of the grace of God centers on the fact that God went to the extreme, doing what to the "natural man" is unthinkable and "foolishness"(1 Cor. 1:18), becoming a man and dying in man's place("for") so that man might be reconciled and thus avoid the "wages of sin", which is "death"(Romans 6:23). Two truths stand out in the Bible.
First, that God, being just and righteous, cannot and will not be satisfied with anything that man can be or do to affect his salvation-Romans 3:10-12, Isaiah 64:6, Ephesians 2:8,9 , Romans 7:18 just to name a few. Second, that God is completely satisfied with everything that the Lord Jesus Christ is and has already done. News, by definition, is something that has already happened! Think on this. To insist that God would be foolish to save man gratuitously, without any conditions attached, is
to disregard and insult the infinite worth of the life of the Son of God the Lord Jesus Christ, who was crushed at Calvary so that "...we might be made the righteousness of God in him."(2 Cor. 5:21). Sadly, most reject "...the gift of God " which is "..eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord"(Romans 6:23). [/FONT]
[FONT="]And how do most reject this gift of eternal life? By trying to
"earn it" through a performance-based system-man presents his "good works" as a basis for acceptance with God. Think on this: How is it that we are graciously able to accept a gift from another, without feeling obligated to "return the favor", or ask, "How much do I owe you for this gift?", but are unable, or just outright refuse, to extend God our creator and provider the same regard?(For eg., what would your reaction be if a loved one, after receiving a gift from you, said "How much do I owe you?" This is exactly what people are doing when they attempt to present their "good works" to God as a basis of their acceptance with him-they are presenting a claim, a "debt owed" to God-God will be a debtor to no one! Why do we "...frustrate the grace of God.."?(Galatians2:21). But as it is written, ".
..for if righteousness came by the law, Christ is dead in vain."(Gal. 2:21) [/FONT]
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